The central coastal city of Da Nang has worried local citizens and small traders with its plan to demolish two iconic markets and replace them with modern, multi-story trade centers.
The Han Market is expected to give way to a 26-story trade center, while the Con Market will be replaced by a 13,500-square-meter trade zone, including an office building of up to 33 stories, according to plans announced by the municipal Department of Construction on August 29.
Small traders at Han Market will be relocated to an underground parking lot at Vien Dong Park, while vendors from Con Market will be moved to nearby Chi Lang Stadium, while they wait for the construction of the modern shopping venues.
The Han Market trade center is slated to break ground in the second quarter of next year, with construction expected to last three years, according to the construction department.
Tran Tho, the city’s Party Committee Secretary, said at the meeting last week that Da Nang is determined to turn the Han and Con markets into modern, deluxe shopping centers.
Fronting the Han River and a few minutes’ walk from the signature Han River Bridge, the Han Market is a well-known destination for international tourists visiting the city. More than 500 small traders sell myriad products at the 23-year-old market.
Con Market has an even richer history, as it was constructed during the French colonial time in Vietnam. Located in the heart of Da Nang, the market is the largest wholesale hub in the city. At one time it was the largest in all of central Vietnam.
Worries and fears
While the city’s leaders have expressed their determination to implement the plan, local residents and traders are uneasy.
Opponents of the plan say the modern venues might share the fate of the Nguyen Kim trade center, which was built in 2009 on the land lot where a traditional, busy market used to sit. The market’s small traders were relocated to sell at a section inside Nguyen Kim in 2011, but the two sides have since repeatedly come into conflict, while business has been poor.
Hundreds of vendors at the Han and Con markets now face the same possibility after learning of the relocation plans.
“Traders are struggling with their business during these hard economic times, and relocating them to a temporary market would only exacerbate the problem,” Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ninh, chairman of the women’s association, whose members are Han Market traders, said.
Ninh believes that Han Market vendors will have far fewer customers once they move out of their traditional venue.
“Han Market attracts tourists with its traditional market style, which will no longer exist in a trade center or a temporary market,” she explained.
Doan Duong Thanh Truc, a food seller at Han Market, said the market is a cultural heritage of Da Nang, given its profound history.
Truong Dien Thang, a journalist for a Ho Chi Minh City-based daily, said that as a Da Nang native, he strongly opposes the plan to bulldoze the iconic markets.
Thang has written a letter to the city’s Party Committee Secretary to express his opposition.
No hasty decision
Phan Van Kha, director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, admitted that destroying the markets would be problematic for traders.
Kha underscored the importance of seeking qualified and capable investors for the projects to construct the trade centers in time so that “traders will not have to wait long.”
Pham Viet Hung, Kha’s counterpart at the construction department, reassured traders that the projects have only been approved in principle, and the department is still soliciting feedback from members of the public for the plan.
“With experience from previous projects, we know that we should not be hasty,” Hung said.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Iconic markets: to keep or to demolish Related image(s)
0 comments:
Post a Comment